altfel

Etymology

It is a compound from Romanian alt (“other”) + fel (“kind, way”), literally “(in) another way”.^[1][2][3][4] The DA calls it a recent compound.^[5] Ciorănescu lists it among the derivatives of the first word, beside alteori and the old altinderi “elsewhere”.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is from 1703, with the sense “in another way, otherwise”.^[2] MDA2 dates the word only from the 1872 edition of Costache Negruzzi's writings, where the DA quotes it: „Să-l vedeți pe cal, veți judeca altfel” “See him on horseback and you will judge otherwise”.^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

The first sense is “in another way, differently”, and it gave the conditional sense “otherwise, if not”, as in Ispirescu's „căci altfel, nu e chip” “for otherwise there is no way”.^[5][2] Preceded by mai it can work as an adjective: Ispirescu has „Eu te socoteam mai altfel” “I thought you were somewhat different”.^[5][7] With prepositions it forms de altfel and într-altfel: Creangă warns „să faci de altfel” “do it any other way” and you will not escape.^[5][8]

De altfel took the senses “besides, moreover” and “however, all the same”, and altfel alone could mean “for the rest”: Tiktin translates a passage on a garrison town „where we otherwise had plenty of everything”.^[2][7] The locution altfel de means “of another kind”.^[7][1]

Timeline

• 1703 – the first record.^[2]
• 1872 – the edition of Negruzzi's writings that MDA2 cites as its first record.^[3]
• 1886 – Barcianu glosses it with German “anders, auf andere Weise”.^[9]
• 1893 – Damé translates it into French as “autrement” and “sinon”.^[10]
• 1913 – the DA calls it a recent compound.^[5]

Meanings

Adverb

1. In another way, differently: Am făcut-o altfel decât plănuisem. “I did it differently from what I had planned.” Altfel de “of another kind”.^[1][3]
2. otherwise, if not, or else: Grăbește-te, altfel pierzi trenul. “Hurry up, otherwise you will miss the train.”^[1][3]
3. De altfel: besides, moreover, all the same.^[1][3]
4. (adjectival, with mai) of another kind, different.^[3][7]

Related words

• alt
• fel
• altminteri
• altcumva

Usage notes

Creangă writes alt-feliu: „Acela eră o leacă mai chipos și alt-feliu îmbrăcat” “That one was a little handsomer and dressed differently”.^[5] MDA2 records the Moldavian variants altfeliu and alfel, and Tiktin the colloquial alfel and alfeli.^[3][2] The synonyms are altminteri, altcum and altcumva.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1, 31
2. ^ a b c d e f Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. altfel
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 46
4. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
5. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română (1913–1949), Dicționarul limbii române (DA), ed. Sextil Pușcariu, tom I (A–B, C, D–De) and tom II (F–I, J–Lojniță), București: Socec / Universul / Monitorul Oficial și Imprimeriile Statului; page scans at cflr-scans.solirom.ro, p. s.v. altfel
6. ^ Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001), p. s.v. alt
7. ^ a b c d Academia Republicii Populare Romîne (1958), Dicționarul limbii romîne moderne, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1, 22
8. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1, 66
9. ^ Barcianu, Sava Popovici (1886), Dicționar român-germân și germân-român, revised by D. P. Barcianu, part I: român-germân, Sibiu: Institut tipografic, p. 20
10. ^ Damé, Frédéric (1893–1895), Nouveau dictionnaire roumain-français, 4 vols., Bucarest: Imprimerie de l'État, p. s.v. altfel